"It's about being able to offer choices for kids who don't fit the Shenendehowa model," said Michael Christensen, who will spearhead the effort. He is headmaster at the Saratoga Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent elementary school in Clifton Park.

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The new school will be for families who don't want their children to get lost in a large school and who can't afford private school tuition, he said.

A location for the school has not been decided.

Shenendehowa has about 2,300 students in its grades-six-through-eight middle school, State Education Department statistics show.

Charters were created primarily to offer school choice in areas where educational opportunities are considered sub-par. It is highly unusual for a charter school to open in a relatively wealthy suburban district. Virtually all of the state's charter school are located in urban and impoverished neighborhoods. Only a handful are not in cities, and those are typically on the border with suburbs and largely comprised of urban students, said Bill Phillips, president of the New York Charter Schools Association. Nationally, less than one in five charter schools are in suburban areas, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Phillips said charters have branched out to suburban and rural areas in many states, including Massachusetts, and that it is only a matter of time before New York follows suit.

Still, he said anyone trying to establish a charter school, even in a place where there are more resources, can expect a fight.

"(Christensen) will get pushback," Phillips said. "It is extremely rare for a district to be welcoming."

Shenendehowa spokeswoman Kelly DeFeciani said the district had no comment because it had not yet received any information on the proposed charter school. Christensen said he has a meeting with district administrators set for next week to introduce his plan.

Christensen has submitted a letter of intent to the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, which is only the first step of the application. He must still have a complete application approved, which is a rigorous process and which weeds out many of those who try to start charters.

He said he wants to start a public charter middle school because it is too expensive to start one independently. The new school will give children from Saratoga Academy a place to attend middle school, he said, though enrollment must be by lottery.

Tom Carroll, who helped found all of Albany's 11 charter schools, serves as an advisory board member of Christensen's Saratoga Academy of The Arts and Sciences. Carroll helped found the Brighter Choice Foundation, which supports all of Albany's charter schools, but is not involved in the proposed Shenendehowa charter school, Christensen said. He did not say if the proposed school would receive any outside financing.

The Saratoga Academy, which is located at 1524 Route 9 in Clifton Park, is non-denominational and tuition runs from $4,500 to $5,000 annually. Next year, 250 children are expected to attend.

Christensen, a former principal at Mother Teresa Academy, an independent Catholic school in Clifton Park, said he plans to form a non-profit management company that will support the proposed charter school as well as the Saratoga Academy and future schools he is planning. He said he expects to educate more than 1,000 students in his schools some day, including another private elementary school and an additional charter middle school.

He said he has spoken with a groundswell of parents who are concerned about cuts in the schools and the size of many buildings. He said parents are ready for more school options.

"We would be able to do it more efficiently and with less dollars," he said.